


become the flowers

by demistories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Fluff, Ladrien Zine 2019, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Royalty, alternate u, zine: leap of faith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21807451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demistories/pseuds/demistories
Summary: When Adrien returned early to his rooms he expected three things:1. That he would continue to hear the music and chattering from the banquet below for several hours,2. That the stray cat he had hidden in his study would be crying for food despite having been fed, and3. That all these sounds would make it impossible to sleep until well after the moon had risen in the sky.He did not expect to see fingers on his window sill. He did not expect to find someone hanging from his open window.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 11
Kudos: 252





	become the flowers

**Author's Note:**

> my piece for the [leap of faith](https://ladrienzine.tumblr.com/) ladrien zine!! it's been forever since i wrote ml but i missed these kids so bad.. thank you to reyxa for the inspo for this fic! the title is from "in a week" by hozier 
> 
> enjoy!

When Adrien returned early to his rooms he expected three things:

  1. That he would continue to hear the music and chattering from the banquet below for several hours,
  2. That the stray cat he had hidden in his study would be crying for food despite having been fed, and
  3. That all these sounds would make it impossible to sleep until well after the moon had risen in the sky.



He did not expect to see fingers on his window sill. He did not expect to find someone hanging from his open window. He never worried about leaving it open, because his rooms were up so high that he was sure there was no security risk. Apparently, he had been wrong. 

“Are you all right?” he called out, confident that no one of consequence would hear him. Maybe some servants would gossip about the prince talking to himself, but they were going to gossip anyway. “Do you need help?” 

There was a long moment before a shaky voice said, “That would be nice.” 

Adrien lit a candle so he could see by something more than moonlight before leaning out the window. In the darkness, he could just make out a face and a mask of dark red that made him think of the last masquerade ball the kingdom over held. It had been a winter ball, and Chloé had insisted that everyone go to extremes with the newest fashions and highly decorated masks. Adrien would have enjoyed the anonymity the mask gave him, except for the fact that everyone had known who he was. 

“Ready?” he asked the girl hanging from his window. He gripped her wrists, pushing her sleeves up so his grip wouldn’t slip. Nathalie would be having a meltdown right now if she could see him. 

“As I’ll ever be,” the girl said with a nervous laugh. 

Adrien grit his teeth and pulled, hoping he wasn’t dragging her against the rough stone exterior of the castle as he attempted to haul her into his bedroom. 

“I got it!” she announced, and suddenly he wasn’t supporting her full weight. 

“Still, let me help you in,” Adrien insisted. He gave her another tug. He must have miscalculated her weight because she came tumbling in through Adrien’s window and they hit the floor in a tangled heap of limbs. Adrien gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs. 

“I’m so so sorry,” she apologized as she tried to pull away. But Adrien had landed on her legs and she couldn’t get up. 

“I’m the one who’s sorry, I must be stronger than I thought,” he joked. Now that he could breathe again, his shoulder ached and elbow throbbed and he knew that he’d have purple and green bruises in the morning. Hopefully, his servants would buy a sword-fighting lesson explanation, because he had no others. 

She buried her face in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.” Her voice was muffled and slightly hysterical and Adrien scrambled to comfort her, something he never really had to do before because no one went to the crown prince for comfort. 

“No no no you’re fine! Don’t worry about it, I’ve done more embarrassing things in front of many more people, and you just fell in front of me which is—” Her shoulders were shaking, but he cut himself off when he realized she was laughing and not crying. “Are…you okay?” 

She looked up at him, face red. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the physical exertion of hanging from a window for an unknown amount of time, because of embarrassment, or because of her laughter. She covered her mouth as she snorted. “My mother will kill me if she ever finds out about this.” 

Adrien blinked. “Why?” 

She bit her bottom lip, holding back a smile. “Not only did I fail to properly introduce myself to royalty, I fell on the floor in front of royalty, and I’m wearing _pants_ in front of royalty.” 

Adrien took in her, and her outfit, for the first time. She _was_ wearing pants, simple black pants that were tucked into a simple pair of black boots. Her deep red tunic had been patched with other fabrics and was cinched with a black sash. Her black hair was pulled back into two pigtails at the nape of her neck and her simple cloth mask was held in place with a black ribbon. 

The girl untangled herself from Adrien and pulled away. Only then did Adrien realize he was staring. He could _hear_ his mother’s ghost scolding him. 

Adrien scrambled to his feet. “There’s no need for formalities, really. You’ve already seen my bedroom. Most people don’t get this far.” He offered her his hand. “Could we just…skip them? Maybe?” 

She looked at his hand. “My mother will kill me,” she repeated as she took his hand with a small smile. 

Adrien helped her up. In the dim candlelight, it was hard to make out the exact features of her face, especially with the mask casting even more shadows. What he could see was a pair of brilliant blue eyes that stole his breath away. 

She lowered her gaze to the floor. “What is it?” she breathed and Adrien was close enough that he could hear the words. “Is something wrong, your royal highness?” 

The title jolted him out of her eyes and back to reality. A reality where he was standing in his bedroom with a girl who had been hanging out of his window. The second part of that thought should have been the most important part, but it wasn’t. Instead, Adrien couldn’t help but think about the fact that this was probably the first time he was alone with a girl his age _ever_ , and from what he could see, she happened to be the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. 

“You’re gorgeous,” he breathed. 

She blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry?” 

“I said that you’re gorgeous,” Adrien repeated, louder this time because he was confident that she outshone everyone he had ever met. 

She flushed, her blush spreading to the tips of her ears. “ _I_ broke into _your_ room, there’s no need for flattery,” she said. Her eyes went wide and she quickly added, “Your royal highness.” 

Adrien took a step closer, very aware that they were already too close to be proper. “Please, call me Adrien.” 

“I really can’t do that,” she said softly. 

“Yes, you can. It’s easy.” His insides turned to fluttering butterflies as he leaned closer and closer, waiting for her to stop him, hoping she’d stop him and save him from embarrassing himself and desperately not wanting her to. 

“You’re the crown prince,” she started. Adrien grabbed her hands to cut her off and her eyes went wide. Her hands were cold and rough and small in his own. 

“That’s just a title.” 

She raised her eyebrows. “That’s a bold claim, your royal highness.” 

“Adrien.” He squeezed her hands. “Just Adrien, please.” 

“But you’re not just Adrien,” she pointed out. He thought she was going to pull her hands away, but instead, she tilted her head and stared into his eyes. “You’re a lot more than that.”

“Maybe I want to be just Adrien,” he said softly. “At least to one person.” 

Her gaze cut into him, and for the first time, he really understood when people said that eyes were the windows to the soul. He thought he understood it with his father, with Nathalie, with the courtiers who tore him to shreds in harsh words whispered behind gloves, but this was different. That was judgement, this was understanding. 

He didn’t know what to do with that. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, ears burning, “that’s silly, isn’t it.” 

“I don’t think it’s silly,” she said after a slight pause. She smiled a little, but it was sad and made Adrien’s heart ache. “I think I understand.” 

Adrien lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles. “I’m sorry you feel it too,” he murmured. 

“Adrien,” she whispered. He could feel her warm breath against his face and it made his stomach twist into knots. He wanted to ask her to say his name again and again and again—

“What’s your name?” he asked. Because he wanted to say her name and he wanted her to feel the same way he does. 

“I…” She inhaled sharply. “I can’t.” 

Adrien’s heart sank. He clutched her hands. “Then what do I call you?”

He thought she was going to ask why he needed a name when she said, “Ladybug. You can call me Ladybug.” 

“Ladybug,” he repeated. 

He would kiss her, but he was a coward. 

Luckily, Ladybug, who dared to climb up his tower, was a thousand times braver than him, wasn’t. She leaned forward and kissed him, soft and slow. Adrien couldn’t figure out what to do with his hands, but he never wanted to leave this moment. When she pulled away, he kissed her again. This kiss was harder and rougher and somehow, just as perfect. 

Adrien kissed her until he couldn’t breathe, and then when he could, he kissed her again. Ladybug held his face in her hands and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as he could. 

When they finally stopped kissing, Ladybug’s lips were pink and her face was flushed. Adrien couldn’t think of anything to say, all he could think was that she was beautiful.

“Why were you hanging out of my window?” he asked, too late and too early and completely at the wrong time. He knew he should have asked when he first pulled her in, but he hadn’t, and now there was no right time for it. Just an awkward shift in conversation that would have made Nathalie pull her hair out. Too sudden, not subtle enough. 

But Ladybug made him forget all the rules that had been drilled into his mind since birth. 

“Oh, this is so embarrassing,” Ladybug said, pulling away and shoving her bangs out of her eyes. “I… I may be here because I intended to steal from you.”

Adrien blinked. “Isn’t that a hard climb?”

She shrugged. “I have practice climbing…trees.” She scrunched her nose and he bit back a laugh. 

“Alright,” he said.

“Alright?”

He turned away from her and walked over to his desk. He pulled open the top drawer, digging through the meaningless junk that had built up in it over the years from well-meaning and politically minded courtiers and allies alike. Adrien found a small collection of letter openers in the back of the drawer— some gold, some silver, some inlaid with stones and jewels. Far too fancy for letter opening, Adrien thought, especially when he usually just ripped the envelopes open. 

“Here,” he said, holding a handful of letter openers out to Ladybug. She stared out his outstretched hand. “Take them, I don’t need them.” 

“But…” she trailed off, eyeing one of the openers on the top of the pile, silver and shaped like a sword, with delicate engravings on the tiny hilt. 

“It’s not much,” Adrien admitted, “but it’s what I have right now. Something small and inconspicuous, something that no one will miss, something that can’t be traced back to the palace. No casualties.” When she gave him a startled look, he clarified, “Sometimes if things go missing, people get fired. Whether or not they stole them. And if they’re found on the market, no one will get in trouble for selling them.”

Ladybug paled. “We— I didn’t think of that.” 

Adrien took her hand and pressed the letter openers into it. “Please, they’re just collecting dust in here. Consider it a gift.” 

“I broke into your room,” she said, shaking her head, “I can’t.” 

“It’s not breaking in if I invited you.”

Ladybug bit down on her bottom lip and he could tell she was trying not to smile. “Okay,” she said softly, taking the letter openers. She slipped them into a pocket. “I appreciate it, your royal highness.” She gave him a small curtsy, bowing her head and lifting imaginary skirts. 

He could see her now at a ball, layers of petticoats swirling around her legs as she danced. He wondered what it would be like to stand next to her in a crowd, whispering to each other and laughing at how foolish some of the courtiers acted. He could show her the not so secret place between heavy velvet curtains where couples would hide and maybe—

Adrien swallowed. He could imagine it all, but he couldn’t imagine that it was better than just sitting with her in the darkness of his bedroom, talking to each other while she wore her oh-so-scandalous pants. 

“I should be going,” she started as she rose from her curtsy. 

“Adrien,” he corrected, belatedly and awkwardly, as his face burned. “And when you come back,” he added quickly, “I’ll have something better for you. Something expensive.” 

Her eyes went wide, round and blue and beautiful. “Come back?” She bit her lip, but couldn’t hold back the smile. “Are you asking me to visit you again?” 

“I am. If that’s not too forward,” he added quickly. 

Ladybug smiled, not trying to stop herself this time, and Adrien’s heart pounded in his chest. Even though the room was dim and his candle was beginning to burn low, it felt like a bright spring day. It was as though Ladybug was the sun, and her smile lightened the entire room. 

“It’s not too forward, not at all,” she said. 

She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Adrien’s lips, too quick for him too react but slow enough that it made stars dance behind his eyelids. She stole his breath as she pulled away and hopped out his window, so graceful that he wasn’t sure how she was the same girl who got stuck hanging out his window. Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she was a dream, an illusion. Adrien wouldn’t be surprised if she was. 

Part of him wanted to rush to the window to watch her leave, but he didn’t want the spell to be broken. Instead, he stood in the middle of his bedroom, lips tingling, until he remembered how to breathe. 

Then Adrien sat down at his desk and pulled out a pen and inkwell and started a list of things he wouldn’t miss. Belts, rings, pens… 

He didn’t know what time it was when his candle finally burned out and enveloped him in darkness. He flopped onto his bed still wearing his fanciest clothing and heavy family rings. 

Adrien closed his eyes. He could still feel Ladybug’s lips against his, her hand in his hand, her body pressed against him. As he drifted off, he started to make a mental list, an old trick from his mother. 

In the morning, when the first rays of dawn and the cold bite of the frost wake him because he didn’t close his window or curtains, there is just one word on his lips: 

Ladybug. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [tumblr](https://sadrien.tumblr.com/)! ([main blog](https://transanabeth.tumblr.com/)) follow me there to keep up with my original writing! <3


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